Shaw, Robert Gould, 1837-1863

Robert Gould Shaw (October 10, 1837 – July 18, 1863) was an American officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Born into an abolitionist family from the Boston upper class, he accepted command of the first all-black regiment (the 54th Massachusetts) in the Northeast. Advocating the promised equal treatment for his troops, he encouraged the men to refuse their pay until it was equal to that of white troops' wage. He led his regiment at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner in July 1863. They attacked a beachhead near Charleston, South Carolina, and Shaw was shot and killed while leading his men to the parapet of the Confederate-held fort. Although the regiment was overwhelmed by firing from the defenses and driven back, suffering many casualties, Shaw's leadership and the regiment became legendary, and helped lead to more than one hundred thousand more African Americans to enlist for the Union. The story of Shaw and his regiment were dramatized in the 1989 Oscar-winning film Glory.